Is Your Elevator Speech Ready?

"We're all given unexpected opportunities and we need to be prepared to effectively convey our key message." Terri Sjodin

The first quarter of the year is generally a time when employers do a
fair amount of hiring. It's also a time when lots of people flood into
the job market --- and not just those without jobs. Think of all the
employed Americans who make "changing jobs" a New Year's resolution.
They, too, tend to start job hunting during the first quarter of the
year.

So many job hunters means even keener competition for
available vacancies. That keener competition means you have to present
your skills and ability to contribute to prospective employers with even
more clarity, confidence, and conciseness.

Having a well-honed
elevator speech to deliver is key to making a concise and confident
first impression on prospective employers, says Terri Sjodin, founder of
Sjodin Communications and author of the book Small Message, Big Impact:
The Elevator Speech Effect.

According to Sjodin, "We're all given
unexpected opportunities and we need to be prepared to effectively
convey our key message succinctly when those opportunities present
themselves."

Beyond having a message to present to employers you
meet unexpectedly, Sjodin says elevator speeches also come in handy when
a hiring manager with whom you have a scheduled appointment is suddenly
called to a meeting ---and instead of the 20-30 minute interview you
anticipated, that hiring manager has only three minutes to spare.

"If
someone has already crafted and rehearsed a brief elevator speech, that
person can take advantage of those three minutes to interest the hiring
manager in scheduling a longer meeting or follow-up telephone
conversation," said Sjodin.

"People often ask, 'How can I stand
out in today's competitive job market?' Having an elevator speech
prepared is one way to stand out," said Sjodin. "Interviewers typically
want two or three points that differentiate you from other similarly
qualified candidates. Can you save an organization money? Can you save
it time? Can you improve its sanity by lowering the stress level in the
department you manage? You want interviewers to see you as a potential
asset to the organization and to convey that in a brief period of time."

Beyond
brevity, Sjodin explains that an elevator speech should highlight key
skills and work accomplishments that will resonate with an employer.
It's akin to how job hunters should respond to the request: "Tell me
about yourself," often posed by hiring managers at the outset of job
interviews.

"People often respond to that request by launching
into a lengthy autobiographical statement," said Sjodin. "But that's not
what employers really want to hear. What they want to know is how your
experience and personal qualities have allowed you to contribute to the
organizations where you've worked and how you believe they can be of
value to that employer's organization."

"And frankly," noted
Sjodin, "if you don't think about that ahead of time, if you use the
'wing it' method during the interview, it's unlikely you'll select the
elements of your work experience and accomplishments most likely to
resonate with that employer."

That's why Sjodin urges job hunters
to not only think through what they'd say in a 1 ½ - 3 minute elevator
speech, but to actually rehearse those remarks until they can deliver
them with ease and confidence during a job interview or a chance meeting
with an employer.

"If you don't rehearse or practice at all, you
have to hope and pray that the key points you need to make will come to
mind just when you need them," she said. "On the other hand, if you
over-rehearse, you'll sound canned and stiff." Somewhere between
unrehearsed and sounding over-rehearsed is the goal, said Sjodin.

Isn't having a resume that summarizes your work experience enough to hand interested employers short on time?

Not
according to Sjodin. "You can have a great resume that presents you
well on paper but employers still want to hear from you how you overcame
a particular work challenge or managed to bring a project in on time
and under budget," she said. "Being prepared to highlight such
accomplishments in a succinct way is key to impressing prospective
employers and distinguishing yourself from other candidates for the same
job."

Keep in mind, too, after landing a new job, you
can create an elevator speech about a non-profit you believe in to help
you convince potential donors to donate to that cause. And if you're in
sales, creating an elevator speech highlighting the benefits of what you
sell can interest prospective customers you meet by chance in
scheduling meetings with you to learn more. As Sjodin's book points out,
the uses of elevator speeches are many, the potential benefits of using
them immeasurable.